Glory Of Love
by yomomma222
Summary: News of a fight between Puck and Finn is spreading through McKinley. Place your bets and find out what it's over.  Give you a hint.  It starts with a Rachel and ends with a Berry.  Rated T for language.


_**Don't own Glee and, the song, 'Glory Of Love' belongs to Peter Cetera…but I always liked the New Found Glory version better. **_

_Tonight it's very clear. As we're both lying here, there's so many things I want to say. I will always love you. I would never leave you alone._

By second period, the halls were buzzing with news of the fight. Not just any fight, a Pay Per View worthy, main event between Noah Puckerman and Finn Hudson. No one knew exactly where the claim originated but, Stacy heard from Trevor, who overheard April talking to Megan, who's older brother is on the basketball team, which is irrelevant even though he always seems to brag about it, but he caught wind of it from Rick, and no one is really sure how Rick found out, especially since he graduated three years ago and was currently attending college in Nebraska, that the fight was going down in the boy's locker room after sixth period.

So, naturally, with Kurt's locker positioned right next to Stacy's, he was able to listen in while she perpetuated the gossip chain by telling Susan and Allison. He then spread the news to the rest of the Glee Club by calling an immediate, mandatory, meeting with the other members, in the choir room.

"Why would they fight? Did Puck knock up another one of Finn's girlfriends?" Sure, it was a little harsh but Sam Evans prides himself on being a man who speaks the truth. He earned hard elbow to the ribs and a glare from Mercedes, who was sitting next to him with his arm over the back of her chair. He mumbled a quick apology because Sam Evans also prides himself on being a man who knows better than to piss his girlfriend off.

"Who cares?" Santana asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms, "I have better things to do than speculate on the circumstances behind their callow antics. Frankly speaking, I'd rather not be privy to the minutiae surrounding their impending skirmish." Everyone stared at the girl, "What? Berry's making me retake the SAT's and she's been on my ass about flashcards and shit."

"You were doing so well." Rachel commented from beside Santana.

The Latina continued, "Point being, it's probably going to be a twelve second slap fight, that'll end with Schue breaking it up and Finn crying like a bitch on his shoulder about whatever Puck did to hurt his feelings."

Artie agreed, "She's right. Same song, different dance." He then questioned, "Same dance, different song?" The others stared off in the distance, thinking about the difference between the two statements.

"If it's a dance, which one of them would lead?" Brittany asked, trying to picture both boys in heels and a skirt. Thus, kicking off a discussion about which of the two would be guiding the other across the room.

"People!" The debate was cut short by a highly irritated Kurt. "As I was saying…" He smiled like the cat who ate the canary, "I have it on good authority that it's about a girl."

"Same song, same dance." Sam and Artie spoke together as most of the club turned and stared at Quinn. Rachel felt a pang of jealousy at the thought of the ex-Cheerio having a certain someone's attention, yet again.

"Why me?" Quinn asked defensively, "I haven't spoken to either one of those jackasses, outside of this room, since Finn and I broke up last year." Ah yes, the Quifel triangle 2.0...3.0? Even the three people involved were having trouble keeping track. The group also immediately took Rachel off the list since her latest go-round with Finn lasted all of two days after they returned from New York, when she told him that she just didn't feel any fireworks when they kissed. He stood speechless as she smiled, turned on her heel, and walked away from him with her head held high. It marked the first step in Rachel Berry getting her groove back (Mercedes told her it went missing the day she met Finn Hudson). Besides, it was Quinn's turn in the rotation anyway.

"Define good authority." Tina was among many in the room who needed actual proof.

Kurt looked like he didn't want to reveal his sources, knowing how the news would be received, but spilled anyway, "Jacob Ben Israel's Twitter page." Most of the group groaned, Rachel sighed in relief, and they stood at the same time, picking up their things and heading for the door. All but Lauren Zizes, who remained seated. Kurt stomped his foot, "Oh come on!" The teens stopped and turned back to him, "Despite being freakish in every way imaginable, that boy has his ear to the ground in this school. Nothing goes on in these halls without him knowing about it." The others still seemed skeptical until…

"He's right." Lauren finally stood and walked toward the door, "It's about a girl." Despite their break-up, at the beginning of the summer, she and Puck remained friends and occasional partners in crime.

"How do you know?" Blaine, who transferred for his senior year to be closer to Kurt, asked.

"Puck told me." She didn't even look back at them as she said it, crossing the threshold of the door, entering the hall.

_Sometimes I just forget. Say things I might regret. It breaks my heart to see you crying. I don't wanna lose you. I could never make it alone._

At lunch, the fight was confirmed when Finn stormed toward the table the club usually shared. In fact, aside from Lauren, who always sat with the wrestling team, he was the only member who wasn't sitting with the group today. He stood across from Puck, shoulders tense and fists clenched in anger, "Ready to call this off?" The rest of the teens tried to act natural, as if they didn't know there was something going on between the two ex-best friends, never having been more interested in tater tots and steamed carrots in their lives.

A calm Puck dropped his pizza slice, leaned back in his chair and finally acknowledged Finn's presence, "Ready to apologize?"

Kurt, the only person other than Puck who noticed what happened next, due to his lacking the decency to join the others in their thorough examination of their lunch trays, saw Finn's eyes dart, for the briefest of seconds, from Puck to Rachel then back to the resident bad boy. He whipped out his cell phone and texted the news to the rest of the club. Ten simultaneous text alerts sounded around the table and each teen tried to discretely pull out their phone to look at the screen, as if the text didn't have anything to do with the current situation. It was met with different responses. They heard Lauren call out, "Why would you think I'd care?" from across the cafeteria, Rachel's brow furrowed in confusion, Artie smiled and nodded, murmuring a quiet 'Nice', Sam and Mike pulled out their wallets and each placed twenty dollars into Tina's expectant hand, who then passed half of it to Blaine, Mercedes blurted out a disbelieving, 'Nuh-Uh', Quinn rolled her eyes and tossed her phone back down, Brittany handed hers to Santana, explaining that she forgot how to retrieve new messages…again, and Santana casually replied, "Don't worry Britt. It's nothing we didn't already know." Before sticking her own phone back into her purse.

The blonde asked hopefully, "It's not about those green Doritos, is it?" The others looked at her.

"No babe." Santana answered, placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and looking at her in all seriousness, "They're never bringing them back." Brittany's shoulders slumped in sadness as she stared down at the table, in a moment of silence, for Guacamole Doritos. Santana glared at the others and signaled for them to show their respect by joining Brittany. They awkwardly bowed their heads, Rachel having to backhand Puck's arm to get him to participate. He only did because, with his head down, he could totally shift his eyes and see down her shirt.

When Brittany finally raised her head and started talking about her cat borrowing clothes from her closet and not returning them, Puck looked back up at Finn, "What's it going to be Hudson?" He stretched his arm to rest along the back of Rachel's chair. They were kind of best friends, or whatever, after a summer teen retreat put together by their Temple.

Neither of them wanted to go. Puck was forced into it since his mother wanted him to make 'some nice, Jewish friends' and Rachel's fathers wanted her to go to make…well, friends. While Puck going on the retreat robbed him of three weeks of pool cleaning salary and unlimited sex with cougars, Rachel's forced presence kept her from attending a theater camp in Chicago (step two in getting her groove back) that she had been dropping hints to dad and daddy about during her entire junior year. After a twelve hour texting marathon, that Rachel initiated in a moment of outrage, the pair agreed on a mutual act of rebellion. They'd go on the damn retreat but they wouldn't like it and they definitely wouldn't hide the fact that they didn't like it. Yeah, that'll show 'em.

They didn't participate in any of the daily activities. Opting, instead, to sit as far away from the others as possible, his arm over the back of her chair, and her arms crossed over her chest, both looking broody and unapproachable. During the outings, they walked well behind the group, usually disappearing until it was time to get back on the bus. They went for moonlit strolls instead of sitting around the campfire roasting Matzah Balls and singing, '_If I Were a Rich Man_', '_Hava Nagila_', and '_You Don't Bring Me Flowers_'. Puck literally had to throw her over his shoulder to get her away from volunteering them both for the Streisand-Diamond duet while she pleaded with him, claiming "It's just one song. If anything, it will show them what they're missing out on by not having our regular participation." It was three weeks with no one but each other, which gave them nothing but time to talk and realize how little they had in common, but how much that didn't matter. They just enjoyed being together.

In a final act of mutiny against their parents, when they won the 'Cutest Couple' award at the closing ceremonies banquet which, neither of them saw coming, instead of denying their couple-dom, they stepped onstage and, right in front of said parents, he thanked her for having such a sweet ass and breasts that fit perfectly in his hands. Not to be outdone, because nobody upstages Rachel Berry, once the shock in the room died down, she gazed lovingly at him and replied, "Thank you for the most wonderful night of my life last night. You were kind and gentle and it was everything I'd dreamed it would be. Thank you for a moment that will truly never be forgotten and I am so grateful to my fathers for sending me here, instead of an all girl's theater camp in Chicago, to spend time with a man I, otherwise, never would have fallen in love with and given myself to entirely." She stared directly at her fathers and, for good measure, reiterated, "Entirely." Puck knocked the small trophy off the podium before resting his hand on her lower back and guiding her off stage. He let his hand drop to her ass as they walked past their parents and shared a secret fist bump just before they walked out of the auditorium. It was the perfect ending to the best three weeks of their lives and marked the complete return of Rachel Berry's groove. Although, she still had no idea what a groove was exactly, she was sure she had it back with Noah Puckerman to thank for it.

So, the positioning of his arm, in front of Finn, was nothing new to either one of them, or any one else for that matter, "I guess I'll see you after sixth period." Finn replied, turning and leaving the cafeteria just as angry as he was when he entered it, maybe even more so.

"Noah?" Rachel's soft voice provided a very sharp contrast to the violent thoughts filling his head, revolving around Finn Hudson having the imprint of a combination lock on his pretty little face by the end of the day.

"Hm?" He turned to her, probably never getting used to his reaction to having their lips so close but being unable to do anything about it. He kept reminding himself that keeping her as a friend was more important than telling her all the things he'd been wanting to do to her and risk a slap in the face, once she recovered from his crudeness, and the loss of her presence in his life.

"What's happening after sixth period?"

"Seventh period. Act like you've done this school thing before Berry." He playfully tugged on her hair and offered his most charming smile.

She continued, trying very hard to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, "You know that's not what I meant Noah. There's something going on with you and Finn and, if you don't tell me what it is, right this instant, I'm going to-" He rolled his eyes and pinched her lips together between his pointer finger and thumb. She crossed her eyes to look down at his hand then glared back up at him, murmuring, "Very funny," through her still clamped shut mouth.

He let go then returned his arm to the back of her chair, "Hudson's been running his mouth about the wrong people."

"What people?" She concentrated her gaze on him and he laughed, rubbing the palm of his hand down her face, breaking her concentration.

"Nice try my hot little Padawan. That information is on a need to know basis and, the only thing you need to know, is that Finn's going to get his ass handed to him in a few hours."

"So, the solution, to whatever problem the two of you are having, is resorting to physical violence?"

"Do you know of any other kinds of violence?" He exhaled in frustration at the look she gave him in response, "Make up your mind woman. First you don't want me to fight, then you tell me to be a defender of the weak and downtrodden…" He turned to the others, "Her words, not mine." Then looked back into her brown eyes, "And now you're back to trying to Mahatma Gandhi me up." She fought to maintain her serious expression but was inwardly doing back flips at his reference, glad he was actually paying attention in history class, "What do you want from me?"

Was that a trick question? She knew exactly what she wanted from him but, she was also sure, he didn't want the same things. She would much rather have his friendship than ruin everything by declaring she's '_Hopelessly Devoted to You_'. And, OK, maybe she sings the song to a picture of him, that no one knows she has, every night. She decided to go with the safe answer, "I want you to not get expelled from school over something that isn't worth it."

"Trust me Rachel." He rarely called her by her first name, but when he did, it always gave her goose bumps. There were only a few inches separating his mouth from hers, "It's worth it." That said, he got up and left the cafeteria.

_I am a man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero you're dreaming of. We'll live forever, knowing together that we did it all for the glory of love._

Rachel, Santana, and Brittany shared fifth period together and sat at the same grouping of desks with Jacob Ben Israel. It was assigned seating so, how they managed to get lucky enough to sit together yet, at the same time, have the misfortune of having him as their fourth member, they'd never know. Jacob Ben Israel and Mrs. Samson, on the other hand, knew exactly why he was sitting with the three hottest girls in class, and the pictures leading to that arrangement were guaranteed to be burned at the end of the school year.

The friendship between Rachel and Santana came as a shock to everyone when they returned to school from summer break. It would seem hanging out with Noah Puckerman not only involved sitting in his truck while he performed random acts of petty theft, the occasional breaking and entering, and the one time destruction of Government property, but it also required being accepted by Santana Lopez. It was easy enough. All Puck had to do was tell her how he and Rachel spent the first part of their summer and, once she was able to stop laughing, she smacked Rachel on the arm, declared, "You're one crazy bitch Berry," and walked away from her. She stood, confused as to whether or not that was a good thing until Santana called over her shoulder, "You're coming to the lake with us, right? Please tell me your bathing suit doesn't include knee socks and animal prints. I can deal with one or the other, but not both." It was that simple.

The three girls stared at Jacob as he looked over his shoulder at the wall then turned back to them, "What?"

Santana glared at the boy, "Don't 'what' me you flaccid fuckstick."

"San!" Rachel warned.

She rolled her eyes and turned to her friend, defending her words, "Come on. I'm using my adjectives and alternative nouns just like you told me to do. Would you prefer for me to have called him a limp dick?" Rachel thought about it briefly before realizing she couldn't punish the girl for using a thesaurus, whether it be a real one or a vulgar one she found online. She nodded in agreement as Santana returned to her threatening demeanor with Jacob, "What's the deal with Finn and Puck?"

Jacob looked around nervously before answering, "I've been advised to keep my mouth shut about the incident. I've already said too much."

Santana leaned forward, "Who's scarier? The person who told you to keep your mouth shut…" She chose that exact moment to shake her pony tail as random shards of broken glass fell loose from her locks, "…or me?"

The boy swallowed the lump in his throat before answering, "As terrifying as you are, even though it's in an 'I'm going to file this moment away and masturbate to it later' kind of way…" Rachel and Santana flinched in disgust.

Brittany simply agreed, with a vacant expression, "It's the fear that makes it so sexy."

"Exactly." Jacob nodded before continuing, "I'm much more afraid of what Mr. Puckerman will do to me. He doesn't want details of the fight reaching certain ears." He glanced at Rachel then back to Santana.

Rachel was confused and offended. First the events at lunch and now this, "Why am I not allowed to know what's going on?"

"Because it's about you." Santana replied but continued to stare at Jacob, narrowing her eyes at the boy, willing him to share everything he knew with her glare. He appeared to be under immense amounts of pressure, shaking, sweating, shifting eyes, veins throbbing in his forehead, fighting to keep the words from spilling from his mouth. It was when a drop of blood fell from his nose that he covered his ears with his hands, jumped out of his chair, and ran from the room, "Damn." Santana sat back in her seat, disappointed, "I think I was this close to getting that Jedi shit down."

_You'll keep me standing tall. You'll help me through it all. I'm always strong when you're beside me. I have always needed you. I could never make it alone._

By the time sixth period ended, every McKinley student who had received word of the fight, and a few students from other schools, who were curious to see the outcome of Hudson Vs. Puckerman, were rushing to the locker room where Lauren Zizes, and one of her wrestling buddies, were standing guard at the door, not letting anyone through.

"Private party." She held up her hand to stop the crowd, "If you want to know the outcome, you'll just have to wait and see who gets hauled away in the ambulance. If you'd like to place a bet, please consult with my associate." She directed them to Artie, who was handling large sums of money and an accountant's ledger. Santana pushed through the crowd, towing Rachel behind her. She reached for the door but Lauren stopped her, "I'm under orders not to let anyone through." She looked down at Rachel, who was still standing behind Santana, "Especially not her." It wasn't said hatefully, just as a matter of fact.

Rachel simply stepped out from behind her friend and stared up at the larger girl. Santana wasn't the only one who had been working on 'that Jedi shit'. Both girls watched all the movies with Puck over the summer and convinced each other it was totally doable. They spent an entire month staring him down but, he never bought Santana booze or ripped Rachel's clothes off, threw her down, and made her scream various strings of profanities that would make him blush. So, they realized, it wasn't as doable as they had hoped.

Lauren finally caved, shaking her head, "Damn, Berry. That's freaky. If Puckerman asks, I'm not the one who let you in." She held the door open and let the small girl pass. Not as doable as they had hoped but, apparently, doable.

Santana, who was certain she'd be the first to nail it, turned a freshman boy toward her and stared at him until he pulled out his wallet and offered her its contents. She smirked, stuffing the money into her bra, just as Coach Sylvester appeared, almost out of nowhere, "What's going on here?"

The crowded hallway fell silent and as the teens looked around at each other before a fearful Kurt decided to tell her the truth, "Puck and Finn are fighting in there."

"And you social deviants, after driving to school today in cars you don't pay for, wearing clothes you didn't buy and have no idea how to wash or probably fold on your own, are betting the money your daddy gives you every morning, that you've never worked a day in your life for, on who will win." Artie closed his ledger and slid it behind his back, as everyone stared down at their shoes, overcome with guilt, "Which one has the terrible hair?"

"Both of them." Kurt answered.

"Twenty on the tall one then." She handed her money to him and walked away. Santana, who knew Puck was a sure thing to win, snatched the money out of Kurt's hand before adding it to the wad of cash she had just Jedi'd away from the still hypnotized boy. If the Coach was going to lose it on a bad bet anyway, it may as well go to a good cause. Like the new Jimmy Choo's her father told her she had to pay for herself. Do you have any idea how much damage a quality made, six inch stiletto, can do to a bitch in a fight? Totally worth $975.

_I am a man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero you've been dreaming of. We'll live forever, knowing together that we did it all for the glory of love. _

As Rachel made her way through the locker room, she heard Puck before she could see him, "You can't say I never gave you a way out of this."

She followed the sound of Finn's response, "Yeah, well, I spent most of the summer working out. So, I kind of like my chances."

It was the truth. When she returned to her regular summer work out schedule, after the retreat, he was suddenly a member of her gym, swinging away at a heavy bag everyday. In fact, it was the same heavy bag that was positioned directly across from her favorite treadmill. Come to think of it, it's entirely possible he was doing it to get her attention. Anyway…being a creature of habit and highly principled, instead of changing her daily routine to avoid him, she opted instead to run on her regular treadmill, at her regular time, and stare straight ahead, with no choice but to watch his pointless pounding on an inanimate object. It would have been a complete and total waste of an hour if she hadn't developed the ability to mentally erase Finn from the picture and replace him with a mohawked, toned, juvenile delinquent, who had managed to steal her heart somewhere between the retreat's Meet and Greet mixer and the first talent show (same night, by the way). Due to mandatory participation, they decided to draw lines on her face, perched her on his lap like a ventriloquists doll, and made various jokes about having his hand up her skirt until they were finally kicked off stage and excused from participating in the weekly talent shows altogether.

But, back to Finn, while he started out an awkward, uncoordinated mess, he finished the summer floating like a butterfly and stinging like a…Wasp…Hornet…Jelly Fish? She could never remember those sports metaphors. It wasn't that she doubted Noah's abilities. She just knew he wasn't going to leave the situation as unscathed as he expected and there was no way she was going to let any harm come to that face.

Puck snorted, "I don't think you sweating to the oldies with your mom is the kind of work out I need to worry about. You ready to do this or you want to keep talking about it?"

She rounded the final corner to see them both taking off their letterman jackets, stretching out their shoulders, then raising their fists in preparation, "Wait." She rushed toward them as both boys dropped their hands and looked at her.

Puck clenched his jaw in anger, staring in the direction of the door, as if he could see it through the lockers, "Fucking Zizes is useless!"

Rachel jumped to the girl's defense, "She didn't have a choice. I used my powers on her." When Puck narrowed his eyes in confusion, she simply tapped her temple in explanation.

He exhaled in frustration, "You're not a Jedi Berry." Finn snorted at the small girl's antics. Puck quickly turned to him and pushed his shoulder roughly, "Laugh at her again and I'll go all kinds of Obi-Wan on your Jar-Jar Binks looking ass!"

Finn shoved him back just as Rachel jumped between the two boys, pressing a hand to each of their chests to keep them separated, she stared up at Finn, "I suggest you leave right now."

There was no way Puck was going to let Rachel Berry fight his battles, no matter how hot her fighting, preferably naked, in a kiddie pool full of jello, or chocolate pudding…both(?), would be, "Stay out of this Berry."

She ignored him and removed her hands from the boys, squaring her shoulders to face Finn head on, "You lay one hand on Noah and I will yell 'Hate Crime' faster than you can say Mel Gibson. I'll continue to make a scene until the entire Lima Jewish community is on the school's front steps with every news crew in the tri-state area. And you can trust me when I say, once those cameras are focused me and they start rolling…" She took a threatening step toward him, "…there will be tears." Puck's eyes widened when he saw a hint of hesitation flash across the other boys face. Maybe it wasn't so bad letting her handle things.

Finn recovered quickly, "I've been Puck's friend since kindergarten. No way would anyone in this school believe I'm anti-simian."

Rachel rolled her eyes, wondering what she ever saw in the quarterback, "Anti-semitic. And I don't need the school to believe it, all I need is the channel two evening news to believe it."

He narrowed his eyes at Rachel in an attempt to tell if she was bluffing, "You wouldn't."

"Try me." She stared him down for what felt like hours. Finally, with what she felt certain was with the assistance of a mind trick, he backed off.

"Whatever." He snatched up his jacket and disappeared into the labyrinth of lockers.

Rachel turned to face a smiling Puck, "Care to tell me what that was about?" She wasn't angry, just curious.

He shrugged in response, "He pissed me off this morning."

"Then why did you wait until now to do something about it?"

"I was giving him time to make amends. I'm not a complete Neanderthal, who's only reaction to things is to throw punches, you know. I have deeper layers than that."

Rachel smiled back at him, "I'm slowly figuring that out." She wasn't leaving until he explained what all of this had to do with her, "And what was he meant to make amends over?" The stare was back, attempting to will him toward her desired result.

He appeared, for a moment, as if he didn't want to tell her then let it slip, "He was saying inappropriate things about you and, yeah, I may have done the same to other girls before but, there's chicks that you can talk that way about and chicks that you shouldn't talk that way about."

She moved closer to him, still smiling, "And I'm…"

He rolled his eyes, "Christ Berry, try to keep up here. I kind of thought, me more than ready to pound Hudson's ass into the ground, would be proof to you that you're one of those girls you don't talk that way about."

Another step closer to him, "Because…"

He didn't seem to notice her approach and ran his hand through his mohawk in frustration, "Because you're smart and beautiful and, despite being completely and totally crazy as shit, you've got a lot going for you and, someday, you're going to meet a Jewish boy who appreciates you for who you are, little psycho eyes, bossiness, diva-rocity, or whatever the fuck Hummel calls it, and all."

She continued to close the distance between them, "Someday?"

"Yeah."

"But not today?" They were only separated by inches and she held her gaze steady on his face, still trying to control the outcome of the situation. She was two for two in the mind trick department after all.

"Fuck, I don't know. It's kind of slim pickings for hot, talented Jews around here. I mean…we're pretty much it." He finally looked down at her, noticing their proximity and realized what she was saying, "What? You and me?"

"Well, we were voted Stars of David Summer Retreat's Cutest Couple without even really being a couple. Just imagine the power we would wield if we were actually together."

His soft smile matched hers when he pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear, letting his hand rest on her cheek after, "You kicked me off the Rachel Berry Show a long time ago, remember?"

Her hands made their way up to rest on his chest, "So, you'd never want to be back in the Rachel Berry…Show?" The pause between words was noticeable and his eyebrows shot up at her insinuation, unsure of whether it was intentional or not. Judging by the change in her smile from sweet to mischievous, he'd say it was totally on purpose.

He realized she hadn't looked away from him since Finn left the room, "Wait a minute. Are you trying to mind fuck me?"

"Mind trick." She corrected without blinking, slowly raising herself up onto her tip toes to bring their lips closer together, "Is it working?" She stopped, waiting for him to close the distance. She couldn't be the one doing all the work here.

He lowered his head toward hers, "Only if you admit you're totally mind fucking me right now." She wanted to argue but couldn't. He was right and, his lips on hers, stopped any argument she might have been able to offer to the contrary.

The kiss started out innocently enough but, as soon as she moaned into his mouth, when he slid his tongue out to meet hers, it escalated into something entirely different. Without remembering exactly how it happened, she ended up pinned against a row of lockers, legs wrapped around his waist, skirt hiked up, and his shirt on the floor, but neither could tell you which of them took it off him or why it was ripped.

They were startled from the moment when they heard Santana calling, "Berry!" Their lips separated and heads turned to the side to face the intruder without Rachel dropping her legs to the floor or Puck taking his hands off her ass. Santana stood, hand on her hip, waiting impatiently, "If you're done…" She stepped forward and grabbed Rachel's wrist, pulling the couple behind her, without their position changing. Rachel's grin grew and her lips were back on Puck's as he stumbled blindly behind Santana through the locker room, "We need to combine our powers. Schue's outside talking about increasing group unity with a Spandau Ballet medley. I've been trying to mind trick him out of it but Coach Sylvester says I'll never get through the protective barrier his hair creates on my own."

Rachel pulled her lips from Puck's once again and smiled down at him, "What exactly was it that made you want to 'pound Hudson's ass into the ground', as you so eloquently put it?" Puck stopped suddenly, causing Santana to lose her grip on the other girl's wrist.

"First of all..." He placed his hand on her neck and brought her lips down to his for another long kiss, ignoring the blatant and frequent clearing of Santana's throat. He finally pulled away, leaving Rachel trying to remember what they were talking about to begin with, "You cussing is like my own personal Viagra. Not that I need help with that, or anything." She could tell he didn't about three seconds into their first kiss, "Second of all, he was running his mouth to Azimio about how you smell."

Rachel was pissed, "He said I smell? I'll have you know, I shower twice a day. Three times on weekends."

Puck groaned, fighting the mental image of her in the shower before answering, "No. The douche was going on and on about how good you smell."

Her anger changed to confusion, "And you were willing to hurt him over that?"

"Fuck yeah babe! It's none of that asshole's business that your hair smells like strawberries and your skin smells like fucking lilacs…or whatever." She smiled at the fact that he got both smells correct, wondering if his knowledge had anything to do with the last time he was over and came out of her bathroom smelling like her body lotion.

"So…wait. Why did he have to apologize for that?"

He answered her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "He was encouraging unwelcome advances. I have a hard enough time keeping these dicks away from you with the short ass skirts you wear everyday. You don't need them trying to cozy up to smell you too!" Rachel smiled down at him, placing her hands on either side of his face and moving in for another kiss.

She was stopped by Santana once again, "The level of fecal matter in the vicinity is accumulating hastily." She was unimpressed and not surprised by the display of emotion between her friends. She'd been expecting this moment since the first day at the lake when she noticed Puck avoided his regular flirtation and pre-dick-table (she laughed mentally at her word play) disappearance with anything in a bikini, brushing several blatant advances off, and focused all his attention on Rachel. She was tired of the little slowmance her friends had going on and was pissed it took them this long to get their act together.

"San!" Rachel glared at their friend.

"Vocab!" Was her only defense, "Now, if you don't mind, I can already hear that they '_know this much is true_'." Unable to go longer than a minute without feeling his lips on hers, Rachel reattached her face to Puck's as Santana huffed in frustration, wrapped her fingers around Rachel's wrist again, and continued to pull them out of the locker room, not caring about his lack of a shirt or the fact that Rachel's feet weren't on the ground.

So, ok, maybe his reasoning for wanting to rip another boy's face off was a little ridiculous, but it was still the first time someone had been ready to fight to defend her…over a compliment…or, well, ever. Now, all they had to do was face their parents, apologize for their behavior over the summer, and hope they would approve of their relationship. They weren't worried about his mother's reaction since, after the banquet, she offered him a sly fist bump of her own and quietly commented, "Way to lock it down." Her enthusiasm for finally having Rachel Berry one step closer to becoming Rachel Puckerman was obvious and uncontrollable. Rachel's fathers' reactions, on the other hand, different song, different dance.

_Just like a knight in shining armor, from a long time ago. Just in time I'll save the day. Take you to my castle far away._


End file.
